Box Score London, ON – Wednesday night (September 2) in London, the Gryphons Women's Soccer team suffered their first loss of the 2015-16 season following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Western Mustangs. With the win, the Mustangs improve to 2-0-0 while the Gryphons fall to 2-1-0.
The start of the match was delayed by over an hour due to lightning in the area. Kickoff was initially slated for 8:15pm but the weather delay meant the match did not actually kicked off until just after 9:30pm. When action finally did get underway, it would be the Mustangs who were able to jump out to an early lead in just the 7
th minute. After a brilliant save by Gryphons keeper
Libby Brenneman (Baden, ON) on Western's fourth year striker Lauren Winquist (London, ON), the rebound was tapped in by Jess Friend (Bowmanville, ON) to give the Mustangs a 1-0 advantage.
In the second half, with the score still 1-0 Western, a bit of a strange sequence would unfold in the Gryphons own 18-yard box. A ball re-directed from Guelph defender
Stephanie Moore (Mississauga, ON) back to keeper Libby Brenneman was ruled a back pass. Since Libby had fielded the ball with her hands, the Mustangs were awarded the rarely seen indirect free kick
inside the Guelph 18-yard box. Off the ensuing set piece, the Mustangs were able to set up a quick touch pass to Sabrina De Nard (London, ON) who sent a well-struck left-footed shot past flying into the bottom corner of the net to give Western a 2-0 lead. That would be the final score as the Gryphons were unable to break down the Western back four.
Of note, this game marked the first time Gryphon midfielder
Samantha Taylor (London, ON) had faced her former team. Taylor is in her first season with the Gryphons after having transferred to Guelph from Western. During her time as a Mustang, Samantha scored Western's lone goal at the 2013 CIS Championships when she scored against the Montreal Carabins. These days, Samantha is helping solidify the Gryphons midfield with her toughness and terrific work ethic. She also provides a young Gryphons squad with some much needed experience and has been named an alternate captain for Guelph in the 2015-16 season. She also has one more year remaining after this season.
Notes:
- This Gryphons were eliminated from the OUA playoffs last season by Western in a game that was scoreless after 90 minutes and required extra time (where Western pulled away late to win 3-0)
- The Gryphons team bus, carrying both the Men's and Women's teams, did not pull into U of G's campus until around 1:30am due to the late start for the Women's game.
